Ozil may feature against Burnley this weekend despite mounting speculation over his future
Mesut Ozil will be recalled to Arsenal’s matchday squad for the visit of Burnley tomorrow. Ozil, Arsenal’s highest-paid player, was dropped from the squad for the 2-0 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur in Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup quarter-final. Unai Emery insisted the player had been dropped due to “tactical reasons” and not because of injury, leading to a fresh round of speculation that the German will be allowed to leave the club in the immediate future, perhaps on loan.
But Ozil will be included on Saturday according to Emery, as Arsenal attempt to get back to winning ways after successive defeats. “Tomorrow he is in the 18 players, in the squad,” Emery said. “Every player wants to play and be okay and to help the team when we need. The frustration is the same for everybody when they do not play in a match. “But I spoke with him and I am telling him what we need from him and he has the commitment to help us and the quality and the characteristics to help us when the team needs his moments in the pitch in one game.”
When asked if Ozil has a future at the club, Emery replied: “Yes”. Henrikh Mkhitaryan will however play no part in the Premier League clash because of an ankle injury. Emery will also be forced into a defensive reshuffle given the news that Shkodran Mustafi (hamstring) and Hector Bellerin (calf) are all out.
Fellow defenders Rob Holding (knee) and Dinos Mavropanos (groin) are long-term absentees. And club captain Laurent Koscielny is unlikely to be risked as Emery continues to ease him back into the Arsenal first-team. “Koscielny is okay but he played two matches this week and tomorrow will be a lot for him,” Emery explained. “We also need to be calm with him, to take time for a lot of matches before he continues playing. But I think Sead Kolasinac will be okay for tomorrow.”
With Kolasinac back in the starting XI, Emery could deploy Nacho Monreal at centre-back or persist with playing Granit Xhaka in defence. The latter seems more likely, given how Emery railed against ‘criticism’ of the Swiss international’s recent performance against Tottenham. Emery added: “I trust [Xhaka] and we have solutions for who can play in this position. “For example, I read a little criticism for our midfielders like Xhaka playing centre back, but I am very happy with him because his mentality is a very big mentality. He helped us, and he played left back too sometimes and I think he played well.
“This reason, for me, is that I trust in another player and tomorrow we are going to play with the first 11 and other players in the bench with our performance.” Arsenal expected starting XI: Leno; Lichtsteiner, Sokratis, Xhaka, Kolasinac; Torreira, Guendouzi; Iwobi, Ramsey, Aubameyang; Lacazette.
